兔子先生

Contents

1. Attendence
2. Welcome and introduction
3. Minutes from the last meeting
4. Draft Jarrow town plan
5. Community engagement
6. Other business

Attendence

Present:

• Susan Wear (Chair)
• 兔子先生lor Margaret Meling
• Louise Lydon
• Martin Johnson
• Tracy Beaton
• Charlotte Bone
• Kate Osborne MP
• Charlotte Harrison
• David Gardener
• Denise Easdon (Northumbria Police)

Observers:

• Rory Sherwood-Parkin
• Carolyn Senior
• Jayne Burns
• Annabel Watson

Apologies:

• Geoff Thompson (Vice Chair)
• 兔子先生lor Stephen Dean
• 兔子先生lor David Kennedy
• Roweena Russell
• Steve Martin
• Sarah Currie
• Sue Newton
• Patricia Blanchard
• John Scott
• Paul Atkinson
• 兔子先生lor Geraldine Kilgour
• Michelle Caisley
• Ruth Durham
• Roweena Russell

Other board members:

• Shaun Sadler
• Daniel Morgan
• Joanna Tuck

Welcome and introduction

• The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting at Jarrow Focus and apologies were received.

Minutes from the last meeting

• The minutes from the last meeting (held on 13 June 2024) were agreed as an accurate record.
• Action: Minutes to be added to the .

Draft Jarrow Town Plan

• A discussion was held regarding the 拢20 million funding pledged to Jarrow from the previous Government; 兔子先生 officers updated on recent conversations with civil servants who were uncertain if the funding would be going ahead or not given the changes to the department (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) and Ministers.
• Given that no further announcements have taken place, it was agreed that the Board should work towards the existing 1 August 2024 deadline to submit a long-term plan for Jarrow.
• In order to stress to Government the importance of this funding, the MP stated that she would be writing to the Secretary of State and 兔子先生 officers said that the Leader of the 兔子先生 would be doing the same.
• Action: MP and 兔子先生 Leader to write to the Secretary of State emphasising the importance of this fund to Jarrow.
• It was agreed that if the funding does not go ahead, the board should continue given the focus it has given to Jarrow and that plans to consult with the local community should also progress to understand public opinion. Other investment options could be considered instead, both public and private.
• The Chair outlined how she is keeping contact with other towns named in the Long-Term Plan for Towns, such as Blyth, Washington, Bishop Auckland and Darlington. Board members agreed it was positive for the chair to keep such connections with other chairs.
• 兔子先生 officers talked the Board through the draft Long Term Plan, the document to be submitted to Government by 1 August. The draft Plan has been created through analysing data and the output of the workshop which took place in June. Discussion took place on the key parts of the document including:
  • The vision - it was agreed it should be generic so that the public consultation can shape this and the wider plan. Action: 兔子先生 officers to edit down the vision statement to one to two sentences.
  • Values - The Board agreed that the number of values should be reduced to around three with a line describing each and clearly linked to the 10 main priorities and the case studies. Action: Chair to look at reducing the number of values and officers to reflect that in the updated draft.
  • 10 Key Priorities and case studies - additions and comments from the Board included; not missing opportunities that could come up to attract investment to Jarrow; strong support for improving visibility of existing services and events in Jarrow, as well as boosting external gateways into Jarrow. Residents are missing out on information as there is not a clear information point to signpost residents to. The new voluntary sector platform () to be added as a reference and a mention of IAMP made in terms of skills partnerships, as well as to enhancing the connections between transport links, pedestrian tunnel, metro and bus routes to make them more welcoming. Action: 兔子先生 officers to add.
  • The importance of engaging with the owners of Evolve was raised and the MP advised that they had pledged improvements and that they had recently met. Action: MP to write to Evolve and invite them to a meeting of the Board and 兔子先生 officers to facilitate meeting the Chair and Evolve.
  • Outcomes and Objectives - It was discussed that if we deliver what is in the plan then social trust (as measured through indexes such as those run by the thinktank Onward) should improve. Therefore, trust should be one of the most important elements looked at. Action: Social trust to be added as a measure.
  • Areas of intervention - this section needs to be in as it part of the Government's requirements. However, the Board feels it is limiting so asked for an additional section be added after. Action: Section at the end to be added to propose that new interventions are developed.
  • Board agreed that we should remove any split of costs and timelines to be removed if not a requirement from Government, and the last section from the ERS report removed as it mentions topics which have not yet been discussed by the board. Action: 兔子先生 officers to make those changes and circulate nearly-final version to Board members (deadline for submission is 1 August 2024).
• Following discussion on the branding for the Board and its work, in order to make it more relatable, the Board agreed on Jarrow Forward as a name. This reflects the need for the town to look forward, to use its assets and heritage to grow into the future and to boost aspiration. It was agreed that a brand for Jarrow should be tested as part of the community consultation (see below).  Action: Board to be known as Jarrow Forward from now on.

Community engagment 

• It was agreed that 兔子先生 officers should draft a procurement brief (to circulate to the Executive Group) for an external engagement agency to support on the delivery of the engagement campaign and community engagement over the Autumn.
• This would ensure wider voices are reached and having the consultation independent of the 兔子先生 would boost take-up. This will be under the Jarrow Forward brand and the brief should ask potential bidders to consider a new approach specifically for Jarrow
• The brief should also emphasise the importance of engaging with young people (a learning from the South Shields and Hebburn engagements), particularly those through groups such as South Tyneside Youth 兔子先生, youth groups at Bilton Hall and Perth Green, Jarrow School, the police engagement team, youth justice and other routes.
• A group of young people could be consulted before and after the consultation to seek initial views and get their opinion on the main themes emerging from the consultation. This would enable them to hear new and potentially innovative ideas that come out of the consultation.
• There should also be target numbers around engagement within the specification, including raising visibility of this work through mechanisms such as a letter to every household in the NE32 area, utilising , Jarrow Sea Cadets, Police Cadets and organisations like People Speak.
• Board members emphasised that it was important to think about who we are engaging and how we put residents at the heart of the conversation. This can help for us to keep referring to and a good circle round in 10 years.
• The Board discussed having ambassadors for Jarrow that could help talk up the town, the work that Jarrow Forward are doing and, in the first instance, can engage with the community and promote the community engagement campaign when it starts in the Autumn.
• Action: Police to ensure community engagement team are involved.
• Action: Board members to put forward other ambassadors that could be invited to be involved.
• Action: 兔子先生 Comms Team to share the brief with the Board's Executive group in view of a community engagement campaign starting in September

Other business

• Next meeting to take place in September.
• Action: Officers to circulate next meeting date, likely to be September.
• Action: Any board members to let officers know if they would not like their details circulated to other board members